Voice-command remote shopping comes to Chicago-based Peapod

PHOTO GALLERY: Hiku partnering with Peapod

Haley HinkleBlue Sky Innovation

Need a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread? Tell it to Hiku

New technology gives voice to remote shopping at Peapod.

Hiku Labs, a California-based shopping-technology company, announced Wednesday a partnership with Peapod that will allow Chicago shoppers to order items — by voice, if they wish — from a virtual grocery list and have them delivered to their door.

With Hiku’s handheld button device and accompanying app, users can produce a grocery list using voice-recognition technology or scan the barcode on a product that they have at home and wish to re-order.

Via WiFi, Hiku adds those items to a categorized grocery list in its app, and users can send the list to the store for purchase and delivery.

Hiku’s product, a hamburger-sized magnetic device that users can keep in their kitchen, will sell for $49 through the holidays, the company said. The device features improved voice-recognition technology, among other things, from a first-generation device that sold for $79, it said.

Carrie Bienkowski, chief marketing officer of Chicago-based Peapod, said the Hiku partnership represents Peapod’s first integration of a device other than a tablet or mobile phone.

“This is a way for us to continue to be very nimble,” Bienkowski said.

The device works with a free app that allows users to track grocery needs.

Here’s how it works: Say you’re out of butter and want to buy another package. You say “butter” into the device, and the device scans online availability and picks a brand. You can change the brand, and the device will store your selection and remember it for the next time.

Again, instead of speaking into the device, users have the option of scanning barcodes of existing products in the household.

Hiku maintains a virtual shopping cart. When ready, users check out and schedule their delivery.

Hiku CEO Rob Katcher said the inspiration for the technology came from the busy family that struggles to keep track of grocery lists and purchases.